Dreamcatcher by Stephen King

Editorial note: I doubt very much I'll do this story justice, or convey how truly creepy it is (not to mention long!), as I don't have Stephen King's way with words. But I'm a huge fan of his work and hope you'll get enough of a sense for the book to want to give it a read. Thanks, Twilight

As the story begins, we meet a group of four childhood friends - Beaver, Pete, Jonesy and Henry, whose current lives are captured in snapshots of time ranging from 1988 to 2001. All of them have both problems and abilities that might seem extraordinary - had they not grown up in Derry, Maine, home of some pretty strange goings-on over the years. The common thread through each of these snapshots is that they are all reminiscing about past annual hunting trips to Hole in the Wall, a cabin in northern Maine and home of good memories for each, many of which include a brightly strung dreamcatcher that hangs in the main room. And as the story moves into the present time, each are anticipating the current year's trip, though this one won't turn out to be quite like the others. Woven through the glimpses of the past are memories of a fifth friend, Duddits, a friend they've known from childhood, who doesn't go on their hunting trips or live life as they do - he has Downs Syndrome - but we find that he is often with them in unexpected ways even as they grow older.

Strange things are happening around Hole in the Wall, things like lights in the sky and animals migrating from the area (oh yeah, and people becoming telepathic), and a pair of lost hunters whom the group encounters - one who wanders into camp and is found by Beaver and Jonesy, and another found by Henry and Pete as they're on their way back to camp with supplies. They don't get that far though, as lost hunter #2 is sitting in the middle of the road and causes them to wreck - back in camp a wreck of a different sort is taking place. The lost wanderer - and lost hunter in the road - have picked up a passenger we come to know as a "shit-weasel"... we quickly find that this is an alien creature that causes plenty of pain and ultimately the death of its host. And they're hungry... the weasel at the cabin killing poor Beaver and the one gestating in the other hunter giving Pete the fight of his life. In the meantime, Henry heads for camp on foot, while Jonesy encounters a creature connected to the shit-weasel... an entity he thinks of as Mr. Gray... who is, yep, you guessed it, another variety of alien creature. This one manages to explode into a red fungus, which attacks Jonesy and takes control of him. Off goes Jonesy/Mr.. Gray on the snowmobile, heading back toward the nearest settlement, narrowly missing Henry who manages to hide, but grabbing Pete who hasn't been so lucky. We find out why as we discover that Pete's unique ability is to "see the line"... a psychic gift that allows him to find things once lost, and apparently get aliens trying to escape a military blockade to a place that isn't being watched... this doesn't work out so well for Pete though, who has also been infected by the red fungus, yet another alien entity, which Mr. Gray controls and uses to kill him... leaving Henry to try and make his way to help alone.

As Jonesy/Mr.. Gray are heading south, Henry has encountered the men behind the military blockade and the unit that has taken over the area, being well aware of the alien presence and attempting to destroy the ship the aliens arrived in. But they're not immune to the telepathy the visitors bring, or the red fungus, nor are they immune to the crazy man running the show, Kurtz, who plans to wipe out all the people that have been rounded up and are being held prisoner... including our guy Henry. Henry's break comes when he meets up with Owen Underhill, the second in command, who has a feeling Kurtz is out to get him... and he's right. Kurtz knows that after this, his shadowy military career is over, and in his warped mind he believes that Owen must pay the price. Owen has been infected with the red fungus, causing him to become telepathic and making him able to communicate with Henry, who has telepathic ability all his own and an immunity to the fungus. Plotting together, they are able to free the people being held there and get away themselves... with Kurtz and a couple others - including one carrying a shit-weasel and therefore major telepathy - hot on their heels. Henry and Owen make their way through a blizzard to Derry, where we finally find out how Duddits really comes into the story. Along with Downs, Duddits is the cause of the special gifts each of the four friends had... he knows that Beaver and Pete are dead, and he knows what Jonesy/Mr.. Gray wants and why he's heading south, and he knows that it's up to Henry to stop him - with Duddits' and Owen's help. But Duddits is ill and dying, and Henry is reluctant to pill him away from his mother and into what almost certainly will speed his death, except that Duddits isn't taking no for an answer. They leave with Duddits holding his own dreamcatcher - a gift from Beaver - and try to catch up with Jonesy/Mr.. Gray.

While Henry has been getting away from the makeshift military compound, Jonesy/Mr.. Gray have been steadily making their way south through a series of stolen vehicles, senseless murders that leave Jonesy - trapped in his own mind and under Mr. Gray's control - horrified; and in possession of a stolen dog containing a shit- weasel which Mr. Gray believes to be the last after the military have wiped out the other aliens. Jonesy is battling for his existence, trapped in a "room" in his mind, and fighting in vain to keep Mr. Gray from seizing his memories to use them in whatever he plans to do. As they continue to move south, Jonesy realizes they are heading toward Massachusetts and the Quabbin Reservoir, a major water source for Boston, and does everything he can to slow Mr. Gray down... with some help from Duddits who has been communicating with Jonesy in his special way. Henry, Duddits and Owen are desperately trying to catch them, with Kurtz and his companions right behind them.

Although Henry closes the lead Jonesy/Mr.. Gray have, they are unable to catch up completely as the alien makes his way to the Quabbin... with the intention of dumping the infected dog into the water supply to contaminate it. Hey, you didn't think the alien was going to give up without a battle, right? But Henry isn't giving up either, and neither is Kurtz, as they all reach the reservoir in stages. Mr. Gray makes the hike to the shed where he's going to dump the dog in, with Jonesy trying desperately to stall him and Owen rushing to stop him (while Henry and Duddits are left in the now- stranded vehicle, appearing already dead but not). Owen reaches the shed as the shit-weasel begins to emerge from the dog, and is frozen in horror... with Duddits' help he is able to kill the shit-weasel before it gets in the water. Meanwhile, Jonesy is struggling for his life and Henry reaches out to him to oust Mr. Gray - again with Duddits help. But all this has taken a toll on Duddits and he is very near death... one last final act of bravery by him as Kurtz and his now-second in command catch up and find Henry and Duddits in the Hummer... and are "nudged" to pass by believing them to be dead. They move ahead to where Owen has emerged from the shed and is making his way back to Henry and to get help for Jonesy, now free of the alien but not some old injuries that have caught up. Kurtz sees Owen... and fires at him, mortally wounding him. It is now that we realize that though the telepathy has been fading for them over the miles, the man acting as Kurtz's second, Freddy, has had a small flash just the same... and draws his own weapon, shooting Kurtz. He knows that Kurtz had planned the same for him. In a final act of mercy, he releases Owen. Freddy makes his way back to the second Hummer, to where the man with the shit-weasel - now the last one - was left behind... only to find the man dead and the shit-weasel on the loose... bad day for Freddy. Henry makes his way to the second Hummer, hoping to use it to get out, but instead finds the shit- weasel... he manages to use Kurtz's extra weapons he's found to start the Hummer in fire, finally killing the last alien creature.

The story closes with Henry and Jonesy together again, exchanging memories of their several-month debriefing at the hands of the military (the real one this time, not the crazy-man's shadow unit) and reminiscing about their lost friends... and the Duddits the dreamcatcher that somehow tied them together in spirit when they most needed it.

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